I am hoping to hear from some of the Mentalists in the Café for some advice. I have concentrated 90% of my study and efforts in mentalism. Essentially, I know I need flight/stage time. Practicing in a room, or in front of family/coworkers isn't enough. So Volunteer/Charity opportunities seems like a logical place to go.
As much as I am truly looking for "stage time", there are two items and keep me from pursuing the charity/route.

The first is I do not want to take $ away from a pro.

The second is choice of venue. It seems challenging to go the route of nursing homes or children's wards for mentalism. Although what I do isn't too terribly hard to follow, it seems to me that hospitals, homes, etc. would be more receptive to the visual magic than to mentalism. Please set me straight. I'm not being condescending, just trying to be realistic.

The one avenue I am seriously considering is to approach a theater or small night club, to do a charity fundraiser for the local food bank. But I would like an opportunity to do something more consistent. Any feedback from those who perform mentalism, would be greatly appreciated.

Check local newspaper, look for fund raising events etc, there is usually a page for those announcements in most papers, with a contact number,not much chance of taking money from a pro, if they have a budjet for pro entertainment, they will go for it, most don't, and are thrilled to get a performer .......don't be discouraged, ten calls gets one or two bites ,,,,, keep at it and good luck

You are right about the nursing homes. The more visual the better. I have had some rewarding experiences at nursing homes. Anyone out there that really wants to feel good about doing something, that is one great place to go. They love it!

If you only have a couple of tricks to show, just go to the alzhimers ward. You will get a fantastic response everytime!

Sorry, that WAS in poor taste, just couldn't help it.

Actor and ceme20,

Thank you for the advice.

Hi everyone. I was wondering if there are any more comments regarding what Shnarker brought up?

Personally I am what you might call a mentalist, and to me, most of my routines aren't very well suited to a hospital or nursing home environment because of the amount of patter that usually comes with mentalism. I could of course just do metal bending, but while entertaining them, at the same time I like to be able to "test" my own routines and see how well they fly.

So I'll deeply appreciate any further thoughts on this. Thanks!

Oh and to deviate a little, what sort of environment would be good to "test" mentalism without actually doing it to magicians, family, and/or an actual show?

Consider Senior Retirement Residences. I and my associate who do our show Mental Wizardry have had success. The residents come expecting to see a "magic show" and suddenly they realize they are seeing and very unique and entertaining show of mentalism.
Like you are looking to do, we use these shows to try out new routines we are considering putting into our show. The Seniors are excellent "sounding boards" for this. Of course, you want to make sure you are doing the show for "independent living" residents. Some "assisted living" residents may have trouble grasping the concepts they are seeing, so we emphasize what audience we would like.

Most Residences have an "Entertainment Director." You will quickly learn that these people do much more than just bring in performers for their residents, so you must be persistent as they are tremendously busy, driving Residence buses, checking on residents with problems, setting up special events and parties, etc..

Some have small budgets for entertainment, so you may find success with No Fee shows for them. Remember, you are using them to further your for fee shows. "Cold Calling" is done and, of course, we provide brouchers to the ET to generate their interest. When booked, we make sure we are on the Residence's calendar and we provide posters for advertisement. Also, we get a signed contract with the ET, so that there is no misunderstanding as to what we and they are providing. Hope this helps. Best Regards, Marelli

I'm a little surprised that school assemblies haven't been brought up yet. Cub Scout, Boy Scout and Girl Scout meetings are also a possibility.

I would, however, advise against small night clubs. Not because they're bad, but because they are commercial. I've seen time and time again where local businesses are given free entertainment in exchange for "stage time," and then the businesses begin to expect freebies from everyone. If you approach a business, expect to get paid - better yet, ask to get paid. Volunteering for a worthy cause or for a public school in exchange for stage time is fine (I still do that as a way for polishing new routines), but if a business is making money from my efforts (e.g., selling menu items to people whom I drew into a club) then I expect something in the line of pay.

One more point - doing a free show for purposes of stage time is perfectly understandable. And for mentalists, working out a new routine is often difficult unless we have an audience. But in my opinion, NEVER do a free show for purposes of "exposure." True enough, it gets your name out, unfortunately it advertises you as someone who will work for free. In my experience the only thing I ever got from a free show was another free show.

Instead, I have found one charity and one cause for whom I will donate a show. Doing this enabled me to have the best of both worlds. First, it gives me the ability to give and it draws a line where the business begins. (In my case, I have chosen a local charity called "Happy Hands" (a day care center which provides low-cost day care for children of hearing-impaired families), and the cause I have selected is almost anything related to Veterans and people currently serving in the military.

Lee,

Thank you for your insights...it is greatly appreciated.

Thinking....the info on working clubs is valuable as well. Thanks!